Gates Cambridge Scholarship

The full cost of study at Cambridge: university fees, a maintenance allowance (£23,152 for 12 months at 2026–27 rates), one economy airfare at the start and end, plus extra funding such as academic development grants and allowances for dependent children.

• Citizen of any country outside the UK
• Applying for a full-time PhD, full-time MLitt, full-time one-year postgraduate course, or part-time PhD (pilot scheme) at Cambridge
• Excluded courses include undergraduate degrees, MASt, MBA/EMBA, MFin, PGCE and other professional degrees
• Can't be used to fund the rest of a course you've already started
• Selection on academic excellence, reasons for your course choice, commitment to improving others' lives and capacity for leadership
• No Gates English test requirement, but your course's University requirement still applies

For citizens of any country outside the UK applying for a PhD or a one-year postgraduate course at Cambridge (MBA, MFin, MASt and some other professional courses are excluded). About 70 scholarships are awarded each year, roughly two-thirds of them for PhDs.

1. 1

   Step 1: Choose an eligible course

   Pick an eligible Cambridge course and check its funding deadline in the University's Course Directory.

2. 2

   Step 2: Apply through the Applicant Portal

   Make one application for your course, College place and funding, and complete the Gates Cambridge section with its four questions.

3. 3

   Step 3: Add documents and three referees

   Upload your CV, transcripts and any documents your course needs, and register two academic referees plus one Gates Cambridge referee. Everything, including references, must arrive by 11:59pm UK time on the deadline.

4. 4

   Step 4: Interview if nominated

   Your department may nominate you, and nominated candidates have a 25–30 minute interview with a subject panel, in person or online.

5. 5

   Step 5: Accept within 72 hours

   Offers arrive by early April (early February for the US round). You must confirm acceptance within 72 hours.

• Cambridge postgraduate application (course and College)
• Gates Cambridge answers (four questions, about 200–300 words each)
• CV
• Transcripts and degree certificates
• Research proposal (PhD applicants)
• Two academic references
• One Gates Cambridge reference
• English test results, if required (usually after an offer)

Deadline

For 2027–28 entry, the US round closed on 14 October 2026. Everyone else must apply by their course's funding deadline, 8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027 (11:59pm UK time).

Applications usually open in September. US citizens living in the US apply in an earlier round with a mid-October deadline (14 October 2026). Everyone else applies by their course's funding deadline in early December or early January (8 December 2026 or 6 January 2027), for study starting the following October.